Kurt Warner retires: A tribute, and the 49ers-favoring fall-out

* 12:49 p.m. update: Guess I’d better explain why I didn’t include the Walsh/Montana early-era 49ers as one of the first of the pass-pass teams… I didn’t include them because they ran more and more successfully than people remember. Even the ’81 team, which featured Ricky Patton and Earl Cooper, out-rushed their opponents and had 560 rush attempts vs. 517 passes.

The ’84 squad–probably the best 49ers team there ever was–chewed up run yardage, gaining 2,465 yards during the season, out-rushing opponents by almost 700 yards. Sure, Walsh teams passed to set up the run. But man, when they ran, they could really run.

Kurt Warner is destined to be a Hall of Famer, without much doubt, and let’s add that his retirement announcement just now only magnifies his HOF aura.

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He went out on top, or as close to the top as he was going to get at 38 years old. Barring an unretirement–which doesn’t seem like Warner’s style–he won’t linger around, he won’t give us a diminished view of his talents.

What he was in last few games is why Warner will get into the Hall of Fame: In a compressed career, he was one of the most dangerous and most accurate QBs in the pass-first era of football.

As we get further from that 1999 sensation, the more significant the ”Greatest Show on Turf” Rams become, in my opinion, and the greater role Warner assumes in the history and evolution of the game.

I wasn’t a great fan of the sudden transition to a pass-crazy, kill-shot offensive era, but it’s here, and teams are winning in that system.

Which started with Warner, Marshall Faulk, Mike Martz, Dick Vermeil and the 1999 St. Louis Rams, and we all saw a lesser (but still dangerous) echo of that with last year’s Arizona Super Bowl run.

I used to argue that finesse offenses would bog down in the playoffs. (Mike Singletary agrees with that thinking, by the way.)

Dan Marino’s Dolphins were awesome scoring machines in his prime, but they always ran into somebody tougher.

And the John Elway Broncos never won a Super Bowl… until they had Terrell Davis racing for 1,500-yard seasons.

Then came the ’99 Rams… and the Colts’ Super Bowl title team three years ago was a version of that… and last year’s Steelers (who did not run the ball well)… and last year’s Cardinals, of course… and both of this team’s Super Bowl entrants…

Nobody can deny it now: If you’ve got a great QB, you just don’t need to run it that much any more.

The ’99 Rams may not have been the first successful throw-throw team (and I won’t ignore Faulk’s contributions), but they started this trend, and it is in full force now.

Warner’s a Hall of Famer. Some other random thoughts…

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* Warner was the 1993 Gateway Conference player of the year at Northern Iowa. Every time I read that I chuckle. Amazing.

* In 1998, Warner was the Rams’ third QB, behind Tony Banks and Steve Bono.

* Warner ended the 49ers’ domination of the NFC West (49ers had won 17 of previous 19 gamer vs. the Rams before Warner’s emergence).

* Due to his late start (28 in 1999), injuries and much fitful play, Warner only had five seasons in which he started at least 14 games–1999, 2001 (with the Rams), and 2007-2009 (with Arizona).

Out of those five full seasons, Warner was league MVP twice, and got his teams to the Super Bowl three times.

* Stat-wise in those five full seasons, Warner averaged 32 TDs a season, and a 66% completion rate.

Tim Kawakami

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Alex Smith, who has done nothing his entire career, is a better quarterback than Hasselbeck, a three time Pro Bowler and a QB who at least got his team to a Super Bowl? Tim you must have started drinking early this Friday to be this smashed already.

JLantern

Kurt Warner = Niner Killer!!

I hate this article because everything you’ve said about Warner is correct and I can’t stand Warner. I almost feel like he sabatoged his own career with New York just so he could come back to the Niners division to kill us again.

JLantern

#1,

Ok, everything he said wasn’t correct, because OBVIOUSLY tim hasselbeck, even now, is a much better qb than alex smith

Lawman

Does kawakami usually cover tennis or something? Must agree with “Fire Bob.” How can Alex Smith who has done absolutely nothing be a better QB than Matt Hasselbeck? As of 3 months ago, people were not even sure Alex Smith was the second best QB on the Niners.

DC Niner Fan

I think you can make the argument that Smith may be better than Hasselbeck right now (not over the past few years), but just barely so.
Here’s how they compared last year, with Smith playing 11 games and Hasselbeck 14.

QB rating
Smith 81.5
Hasselbeck 75.1

Completion %
Smith 60.5
Hasselbeck 60

Yds/game
Smith 213.6
Hasselbeck 216.5

Total yds
Smith 2350
Hasselbeck 3029

TDs
Smith 18
Hasselbeck 17

INTs
Smith 12
Hasselbeck 17

noah

“Alex Smith, who has done nothing his entire career, is a better quarterback than Hasselbeck, a three time Pro Bowler and a QB who at least got his team to a Super Bowl?”

Hasselbeck is so far over the hill that he can’t even see the hill anymore. Nobody is saying that Alex is better than Hasselbeck in his prime.

cynic

I’m glad Tim pointed out how good those 80s Niners teams were at running the ball. Seems like the National media always calls those teams a short passing team which is totally wrong. Those were extremely balanced teams.

formerhasbeen

Warner is the only pro football player I’ve heard to ponder what the consequences of the concussions he’s gotten will do to his later life. And his family and his future mean a lot to him. Good example for other players, and a good guy overall. I’ve enjoyed watching him, and wish him the best.

J31

I was at the gym this afternoon when I caught Warner’s retirement speech. The guy is a class act.

About that image search you pulled up on Matt Leinart. Timmy…don’t hate man. You can only dream of having babes like that in the hot tub. ML is a bonafide P.I.M.P. trust me.

kawakami is terrible

You have a game tomorrow. You need to win, you need a QB, Hasselbeck and Smith are your options. Who are you picking?

Everyone would pick Hasselbeck.

You’re down 24 points at halftime. The spread is +10, and you want to cover. Then you go with Smith.

http://www.robertphoenix.com dominmatrix

“I used to argue that finesse offenses would bog down in the playoffs. (Mike Singletary agrees with that thinking, by the way.)”

Are you sure this is a good thing?

From what I’ve seen so far, the only thing that Mike Singletary is any sort of authority on is getting EVP’s to run through a brick wall for their CEO’s.

Yeah, I guess crappy, finesse offenses like The Colts or The Saints just won’t ever make it to the big dance.

Tim, if you spent a 1/3 of the venom that you reserve for the Warriors on the Niners, you might have a slightly more balanced perspective on how mediocre that whole thing is run, from the corner offices, to the sidelines.

Jeremy

What a great battle of QBs it will be for the division when Leinart and Smith square off twice a year. I’m drowning in anticipation already

slimman

I wish he were, but Alex Smith is no Matt Hasselbeck. The 49ers have a bright future, I just wish they would ditch Alex Smith and Jimmy Raye; those guys will make them underachieve. considering how often they were on the field, last years defense was amazing.

An aside Tim, kudos for shining the light on the complete ineptitude of the Warriors organization. I know you take a lot of heat for being biased against but I do not buy it. Please continue to show the world the incompetence of Chris Cohan and his stooge Robert Rowell. Hopefully Larry Ellison buys sooner rather than later so this fan, and many others, can end the boycott of their favorite team.

Cards Fan

49ers favorite in the NFC?! Lemme guess – by those same clowns that pooh-poohed the Cardinals in the playoffs the past 2 years.. or the same ones that crowned the 49ers this PAST year as the NFC West champ.. especially after week 1.

Sorry guys -but if you’re QB is Alex Smith, the 49ers are no favorite. Period.

The Leftovers from Tom Cables’ Lunchbox

Oh!

I saw the words “Kawakami” and “Retire” in the headline and my heart started racing.

The Leftovers from Tom Cables’ Lunchbox

Does one have to be cremated prior to being enshrined in Canton?

Stan…The Real Stan

Cmon Tim,you have propensity to stick with a losing argument-and Smith burns you time after time. If Smith is better-they why did Smith lose a crucial game to him? There it was mano e mano-and Smith stunk-o.
Hill would have won that game,Davis might have won that game-for sure Smith lost it.
Is that the 49er strategy for next year-hope everybody else is just plain bad? That might make Singletary and Jed the luckiest football boobs on Earth next season.

AQ

Regardless of how good Alex Smith is compared to Hasselbeck the Niners will still win the division. The Niners have way more talent than the seahawks.

Stan Da Moron

Stan, if you had any brains, you’d realize that Smith did not lose the Seattle game. Brandon Jones/Arnaz Battle/Frank Gore fumbles cost them the game. Smith played great.

kookaburra

Wow, the Smith bashing is so irrational. Kind of just goes to show you how stupid football fans are, and sports fans in general. I think that is the reason the majority of intelligent people don’t follow sports closely: they don’t want to be associated with the amount of brain-dead idiots that love to watch sports all day but can’t even recall the substance of the game after a few days. Stan, the Seattle game was arguably Smith’s best game of the season. We lost that game for three reasons: Walker’s dropped touchdown, the completely botched special teams play which swung the whole tide of the game, and Gore’s fumble.

D W

The gap between Warner and Leinart remains both on and off the field. Precision passing on, morals off. Still think that those ladies don’t come close to the mother of Leinart’s child. As for Leinart’s arm, Smith once outdueled him in the clutch on a Monday night. Hasselback is getting older and more banged up. And with Raye back for a second year, Smith will get into more rhythm, and a #4 seed in the NFC is possible, leading to the first playoff game at the Stick in 8 years. Amazing to say that SF may be the NFC West Best again. And Singletary hasn’t even started making roster changes yet.

MK1

Stan Da Moron and Kookaburra — you forgot the most glaring Smith killer of all in that game — the perfectly thrown pass that went thru VD’s hands and hit him in the facemask… So let’s again review how crappy “Alex Smith” is:

Total point swing (counting the two FGs after the dropped TD passes: minimum 16 points; maximum: 28 points).

Yeah, that Smith…”he” sucks.

DieHard

Well put MK1. I was going to point out the exact same thing to those idiots. I’m sorry, but they are just stupid. They will NEVER get it. Every time Smith throws an incompletion, it’s vindication for them. You can’t win because everything that goes wrong with the 49ers is always going to be Smith’s fault in the eyes of these haters. These idiots call Smith a bust, then act indignant when he makes a mistake. If it was so obvious that Smith is a bust, they wouldn’t feel the need to beat the drum so loudly. Facts are stubborn things. People like you and me keep posting them, and the idiots keep ignoring them. Ask them to point out specific instances when Smith made a BIG mistake and they won’t be able to come up with one. When he had time to throw, he generally made an accurate throw to the open man. If one of these nimrods responds to my post, I imagine it will be some juvenile comment, completely devoid of a factual argument.

Justin

Cards Fan. Sorry to break it to you, but the Niners are going to win the division regardless if Warner was playing. Like the article said, Warner is going out on top.

It sure was fun putting a whipping on the Cards this year. Imagine if the Cards played at least one team on the road who had a record better than .500. The niners played six this year. Not quite good enough to win those road games, but neither were the Cards as evidenced by their playoff game at the Saints.

TIM

Smith is not even the best QB on his own roster ,lol. Maybe the 3rd best if you tell the real truth.

TIM

And Diehard,when you wrote that Smith is an accurate passer,you lost ALL crdibility with anyone on this Earth who has ever watched Smith play in the NFL. You were joking,right?

niner

with all the divas in sports now, Warner was a class act! Like many of us he showed you didnt have to be a first pick in the draft to be good, very very good! He worked hard and showed class even when he lost. I hope this is not an end to great sports players who we may have hated (as they beat our team) but respected as a great players. ( eg.. Anderson form Cinncy and Tom Landry not the Diktas and Simms)

Cowboy Hunter

I was going to rebutt that imbecile Stan the real satan, but it looks like that’s been covered. Thanks guys!

DieHard

TIM, no I wasn’t joking. When he’s had time, and an open receiver he usually puts the ball on the mark. You act like every other QB in the league hits their receivers right between the numbers on every pass. I can remember several times where he made EXCELLENT throws. Against TENN on 4th and short, he put the ball perfectly over VD’s shoulder for a big gain. How about the 3 touchdowns to VD in Houston? How about the perfect throw to Crabtree in the endzone against JAX that Crabs dropped? I guess you can’t be bothered with actual examples. Don’t let the facts get in the way of your opinion TIM. Just keep beating that drum.